Astros Claim Justin Maxwell Off Waivers

The Astros have claimed outfielder Justin Maxwell off of waivers from the Yankees, the club announced. Maxwell will report to the Major League club on Monday and the Astros will make a corresponding roster move after he reports. Houston's 40-man roster now stands at 39.

Maxwell, 28, was out-of-options and designated for assignment by the Bombers on Wednesday. The outfielder saw his 2011 season cut short with an injured shoulder but hit .260/.358/.588 with 16 homers in Triple-A up until that point.

The Yankees acquired Maxwell from the Nationals in February for minor league right-hander Adam Olbrychowski. The Astros and the Orioles were said to have interest in Maxwell prior to Opening Day.

Comments

From vying for a fifth outfielder spot (and having little hope to get it) to undisputed starter! Who said the Astros were useless?

All jokes aside, great pick up for the Astros. Maxwell is still young, has a lot of upside and if really all he needs to prove himself is time, the Astros could either have a piece useful for building their future or to trade in a short time. Either way, it’s a win-win situation for both club and player.

I would be surprised if Maxwell started regularly for the Astros. He will more likely be a bench outfielder who gets the occasional start. Maybe he will get a decent number of plate appearances due to his ability to back up all three OF positions.

I’m not saying he will start right away (it would be weird for newcomer without a resume to win a starting spot over guys with similar careers that were with the team the full spring training), but with the current OF situation on the Astros, he has a good chance of earning a spot during the season, specially if he’s able to translate his minor league performance onto the majors (I don’t think you can consider the group of Jordan Schafer, J.D. Martinez, Brian Bogusevic, Travis Buck and top AAA guys J.B. Shuck and Fernando Martinez as neither present nor future cornerstones of the franchise right now).

The current “situation” is from my view pretty good. Martinez, Schafer, and Bogusevic form potentially a solid starting outfield and I also like Buck off the bench. I think the move to get Maxwell is a smart one, but he will be a 5th outfielder, and no more.

J.D. is very good, but Schafer and Bogusevic have higher ceilings. Also I think that George Springer is going to be up in the majors by Sep 2013. Buck, Maxwell, Ruggiano and Shuck are all good backups and when we move to the DH next year, Buck in particular may fit that slot well.